


Nobody Puts Baby's "Chag Sameach" in a Corner (or Jason's over-zealous attempt to give Percy a happy holiday)

by enbyofdionysus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Fluff, Future Fic, Hannukah, Holidays, Jewish Percy, M/M, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:17:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyofdionysus/pseuds/enbyofdionysus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason forgot to consider that just because he'd been raised by Lupa and the Roman camp didn't mean others were. He also hadn't considered other children had grown up being taught something completely different than what they were told when they found out their missing parent was immortal. </p><p>This was, evidently, the case with Percy; when they walked into his small apartment in lower Manhattan the unlit menorah in the window stood out to Jason like a giant “duh.”</p><p>In which Jason Grace is determined to make Percy's Chanukah kind of a big deal, minor holiday or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Major Minor Holiday

It took Jason an embarrassingly long time to figure out, but in his own defense, he thought Percy was looking at him oddly because _he_ thought _Percy_ thought _he_ didn't celebrate Christmas.

To be fair, he doesn't – not the religious Christmas anyway – but since his father banned Saturnalia from being celebrated at Camp Jupiter after the second Titan war, they just kind of opted for something else that didn't involve lighting candles around Saturn's temple, gambling, or role swapping.

He'd just kind of assumed Percy was in the same boat because if you had a Greek god for a father and you worshiped the gods and goddesses of the Ancient Greek pantheon, that made you a Hellenic pagan, right? So you didn't actually _follow_ the popular religious holidays.

Yet Jason forgot to consider that just because he'd been raised by Lupa and the Roman camp didn't mean others were. He also hadn't considered other children had grown up being taught something completely different than what they were told when they found out their missing parent was immortal.

This was, evidently, the case with Percy; when they walked into his small apartment in lower Manhattan the unlit menorah in the window stood out to Jason like a giant “duh.”

Jason didn't make a big deal of it aside from switching from talking about what they'd be doing for Christmas as a group to asking what Percy's plans were for Chanukah while peeling his boots off at the door as Percy shucked his jacket off onto the couch and padded over to the kitchen in his socks.

Jason couldn't help but watch and, hey, it totally wasn't his fault, okay?

In the past five years since the end of the war with Gaea, Jason had only seen Percy a few times what with going back to California and Percy staying in New York to finish up High School.

Now since they were both on winter break from college (Jason at Camp Jupiter, Percy at BMCC), Jason was actually able to come out to the East coast to spend some quality time with his friends.

He'd spent the last four horribly awkward days at Camp Half-Blood with Piper and Leo (awkward because no one had bothered to tell Jason Calypso had left Leo – which, yeah, unsurprising, but Jason didn't say that much – for Piper and the two had been dating for the past year), but they'd still managed to have a good enough time together. Jason was surprised by how little they had changed.

Percy though.

 _Jupiter_.

Apparently Percy had taken up swimming in the past few years not just as a recreational activity, but as an exercise. Now his shoulder-to-waist ratio was something that just barely had Jason calling Nico for advice on hiding emotions.

It took Jason a moment just to register Percy had actually replied to his question.

“What?”

“I said 'nothing, why?'” Percy said again, heading into the kitchen and grabbing a pot from the lower cupboard.

That made Jason frown. “What do you mean 'nothing?' You aren't doing anything with your mom? She lives here in New York, right?”

“She and Paul are going to Massachusetts to celebrate with Paul's family this year,” Percy said. He put the pot under the sink and filled it with water, turning on the stove with his other hand.

Jason didn't speak, expecting to hear more, but when the silence ticked by he became even more confused. “And you're not going with them?”

“No?”

“But,” Jason said slowly, “it's the holidays.”

Percy made a dismissive noise. “Chanukah's not that important of a holiday. We just try to amp it up because, with all the Christmas stuff, it's like we're shoved into a corner and, well, no one puts Baby in a corner.”

He reached up to the higher cupboard after putting the pot down on the stove and took out a box of spaghetti.

“Some Jews spend Chanukah together all eight days, some for at least some of the days. It's a family thing, but my mom and I aren't really _Jewish_ Jewish. And I don't mean we're Reform, even though we are, I mean... My mom's Agnostic and celebrates the holidays out of maintaining our heritage and stuff and I just... don't really believe in God.” He gave a half-shrug, popping a raw spaghetti noodle into his mouth. “So celebrating the holidays is just kind of at the back of my mind. We still do them though. Just not so much religiously. I think my mom picked it up more after Gabe... left.”

Percy hardly ever mentioned his ex-step-father so his name made Jason's attention sharpen. “Why?”

Percy gave another half-shrug. “Gabe was an asshole to begin with, but he never bothered to really do any research on Judaism even after marrying my mom. He shoved our traditions into the closet, once made my mom make him dinner on Yom Kippur.” Jason didn't know what that meant, but by the way Percy broke the spaghetti in half like it was Gabe's neck he figured it was a douche-y thing to do. “So after he disappeared, we brought our own stuff back again. We're still not, you know, religious or anything, but-”

“But it's the idea behind it,” Jason said.

“Yeah.”

Jason watched Percy make the spaghetti in silence for a few minutes before looking back over at the unlit menorah.

It looked like it was made out of silver with eight long, blue candles standing in each of the holders and a ninth one standing the tallest in the middle above a Star of David.

The blue made Jason smile, but it faded slowly as his mind wandered.

In history, the Romans weren't great to the Jews, had _enslaved_ them actually, but there was something different in hearing about Gabe.

The Roman enslavement of the Jews had been ancient history; Gabe's trashing of Percy's family traditions were something that happened practically yesterday.

It made something burn low in the pit of Jason's stomach and it wasn't a Chanukah candle.

“When do you get off of work on Tuesday?”

“Seven.”

“You said you didn't have plans, right?”

Percy looked up at him from the stove, two raw spaghetti noodles at each side of his mouth so he looked like a strange walrus. “Yeah?”

“You do now.”

 


	2. First Night of Chanukah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything is totally incorrect in this fic feel free to let me know! I've never actually celebrated Hanukkah before and I am the most gentile of gentiles, but I'm trying my best

The plan was to get everything set up while Percy was at work.

The sun would have already have gone down by the time he'd get home, but Percy assured him they'd still be lighting the menorah (or Chanukiah as Percy corrected him).

“First the  _shamash_ ,” Percy had explained to him the other night. He'd just finished pulling out the couch into a futon where they would both sleep. “That's the middle candle. You use it to light the others which are a symbol of each of the days the oil lasted." He'd handed Jason a pillow. "Before you light the Chanukah candle we recite two blessings.  _Baruch atah Adonai Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah._ And  _Baruch atah Adonai Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam She'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim ha'hem baz'man hazeh_.”

Jason was sure there was a special place in the Underworld for people aroused by hearing someone speak blessings to God. He was really hoping that spot wouldn't be reserved for him.

Unaware, Percy had continued. “After the blessings are said, you light the Chanukah candles starting on your far right. Never use the Chanukah candles to light each other. Always use the  _shamash_.”

“Got it,” Jason had said. He'd plopped his head down onto the pillow, watching Percy set his alarm on his phone.

“Once the Chanukah candle of the night is lit, we say another prayer, called the Hanerot halalu prayer.”

“Hanerot halalu,” Jason repeated.

“Then we usually sing Chanukah songs,” Percy said, putting his phone down. “But I try to stay away from that part.”

“Why?” Jason had asked. He was trying to keep his eyes open.

“Because my singing voice is about as beautiful as a dying whale.”

Jason's stomach twitched with his silent laughter. “Maybe you just need to free Willy.”

“Oh my  _gods_. Go to sleep.”

Jason laughed out loud now and opened his eyes to see Percy smiling down at him with a look that was almost like... But it was gone the second Percy met his eyes. He quickly looked back at his phone.

“Anyway,” he said and maybe it was just Jason, but his throat sounded a little dry, “we let the candles burn for at least a half hour while watching them or being in their general,” he waved a hand, “vicinity. With each night, we light the new candle first and then move right.”

“Always with the  _shamash_ ,” Jason said sleepily.

“Always with the  _shamash_ ,” Percy agreed and there was that look again, but he was still staring down at his phone. “But there's one prayer we say on the first night of Chanukah only and that's  _Baruch_ _ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam shehecheyanu v'kiy'manu v'higyanu lazman hazeh_. There are other rules because of Shabbat, but I'll tell you those when you're more awake. Should I turn down the thermostat? You're lookin' kind of red, man.”

“I'm fine,” Jason had assured him.

Now, he was trying to read the directions on his phone for making latkes.

If Jason didn't succeed in giving Percy an awesome Chanukah, he was at least going to make him gain 20 pounds.

Except... What if Percy had a specific way he liked his latkes? Like how Jason always preferred Piper's dad's pumpkin pie over Coach Hedge's. Maybe it was a stupid thing to worry over (how different could one person's version of a fried potato pancake be from another's?), but Jason wanted to do something special.

It was a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar and Percy wasn't actually  _religiously_  Jewish, but like Percy had said, it was the idea behind it. Besides, Gabe had been a dirt bag to Percy's mom. Jason wanted to prove that he could do a better job as a boy . . .

. . . friend.

Jason stared at the stove.

He was  _not_ doing this to woo Percy.

He was doing this because he was a decent human being who wanted another decent human being to have a decent Chanukah like every other decent human being who happened to be having a decent Christmas.

He was not doing this to woo Percy.

He wasn't.

Definitely wasn't.

Totally wasn't.

“How does your boyfriend make latkes?” Jason rushed out into the phone, face hot and feeling stupid. “Like the heart-attack ones, the ones with the sour cream and that green stuff.”

There was a silence on the other line until he heard Nico's grainy voice, slow and high-pitched in what Jason thought was confusion. “Green onions?”

“Yeah. How does he- How does he make them? Because I'm... I don't want to make shitty hash browns on accident.”

There was another beat of silence and then: “Are you making them for someone special or did you hit someone's car?”

Jason could feel his blush creep down to his neck. “I'm making them for Percy.”

There was  _another_ beat of silence and this time he could tell Nico was grinning. “So for someone special.”

He wondered if Nico could feel him dying. “Look, just. Your boyfriend's Jewish, right? Help me.”

“My boyfriend's Ukrainian Greek Catholic.”

“Then why did he bring latkes to Hazel's that one time?”

“Those were  _deruny_.”

“What the Pluto is deruny?”

“Potato pancakes.”

The noise Jason made at the back of his throat was not human. “It's the same- Can you just-”

“I'll be over in ten minutes.”

* * *

“Chanukah is a festival of oil, so Jews typically eat fried foods during the holiday,” Nico said and sprayed the pan with cooking oil. “Percy doesn't really care about healthy eating in general, so don't worry about what not to include in the latkes.”

“But I don't know what he prefers,” Jason said, resting his chin on the back of the kitchen chair as he watched. “I don't want to screw up.”

Nico leveled him with a stare. “I think you're putting way too much thought into this. Percy's not an old, Jewish grandma who wants everything exactly right. He's a  _twenty-two-_ year-old non-religious guy who goes to temple only twice a year."

Jason's eyebrows went to his hairline. "How do you know that?"

Nico's ears went red. "Don't worry about it. And  _don't_  worry about everything being perfect. You want to make latkes that are more like Percy's style?” Jason nodded and was promptly handed Nico's cellphone. “Buzzfeed is your Torah.”

* * *

By the time the lock came undone and Percy came through the door, Jason was practically vibrating out of his skin.

He had taken Nico's advice and took the un-traditional approach, making at least twenty three-cheese latkes and frying six eggs to put on top of them with sour cream and chopped green onions sitting in the fridge.

He'd also managed to hunt down a DVD and rearrange Percy's living room into a blanket fort around the television.

It'd seemed like a Percy thing to do.

It was also incredibly worth it for the look on Percy's face when he came through the door.

At first he'd looked exhausted, face resigned and shoulders slumped, but at the smell of Jason's work his head snapped up and his eyes flicked around the apartment until he found Jason leaning excitedly against the counter, trying to look as casual as possible.

“It smells fantastic in here," Percy breathed. "What did you make?”

Jason made his teeth let go of his lower lip. “Latkes.”

A slow smile spread across Percy's face. “Yeah?”

He unzipped his coat and went to toss it on the couch, but stopped mid-throw. “Uh. What'd you do to my-?”

“Blanket fort.”

Percy looked back at him. Jason couldn't read his expression. “You made a blanket fort?”

Jason shrugged, pushing off the counter. “Chanukah's meant to be fun, right? I figured we could watch a movie. And, I mean, the only correct way to watch a movie is in a blanket fort, right?”

Percy stared at him for a long moment until Jason couldn't stop his leg from jiggling. Finally, though, he asked, voice rough, “What movie?”

“Uh. Eight Crazy Nights.”

That broke the tension a little.

Well, Percy's laughter did. Loud and boisterous with his entire body.

Jason felt like he should be offended, but instead felt mesmerized. He watched Percy come closer to him, all green eyes and smiles, and for a split second he thought Percy was going to take his hands.

Evidently, Percy must've thought the same because there was a brief, awkward pause and then Percy shoved his hands into his back pockets, ducking his head and looking up at Jason through his long lashes. His smile never left his face. “How about we just stick with, uh, Finding Nemo or something?”

Jason sagged a little. “Did I-?”

“No, no, no, you didn't do anything, I just-” Percy licked his lips, still grinning. “I just don't like Adam Sandler.”

“Oh.” Jason frowned. “What's so funny then?”

“Because I'm guessing that was the only Chanukah movie you could find.”

Jason chewed his lip, but couldn't help smiling at the truth. It  _had_ been the only one he could find.

They stayed like that for a moment until Jason realized they were standing way too close and he backed up against the counter with a forced laugh. “Um. So how about that candle lighting?”

* * *

When Percy said the other night they would be saying blessings before lighting the candles, he had no idea that Percy would be  _singing_ them, especially not after Percy's self-deprecating joke. Granted, it was soft singing so only Jason could hear it, but it was still cute enough to massacre both of Jason's kidneys.

Jason lit the  _shamash_ and held it while Percy sang, then lit the first candle after he was given the nod to go ahead.

“ _Hanerot halalu anachnu madlikin_ ,” Percy sang softly after the candle was lit and the  _shamash_ placed back in the center of the Chanukiah.

“ _Al hanissim ve'al haniflaot  
_ _Al hatshu-ot ve'al hamilchamot  
_ _She-asita la'avoteynu  
_ _Bayamim hahem, bazman hazeh  
_ _Al yedey kohanecha hakdoshim.  
_ _Vechol shmonat yemey Chanukah  
_ _Hanerot halalu kodesh hem,  
_ _Ve-ein lanu reshut lehishtamesh bahem  
_ _Ela lirotam bilvad  
_ _Kedai lehodot leshimcha  
_ _Al nissecha veal nifleotecha ve-al yeshuotecha._ ”

When Percy finished they were silent, watching the flames, the light from the candelabrum dancing across their faces until Jason suggested they eat the latkes now if only to keep himself from doing something stupid like leaning over and doing something he'd regret.

Except the latkes were mistake.

The noises Percy let out when he shoved a forkful into his mouth were practically  _sinful_ , tiny sighs through his nose and long groans when he tasted the cheese. Jason might have missed his mouth and stabbed himself in the cheek with his fork. “ _Holy Poseidon_ , Jason, these are  _amazing_.”

Jason flushed, pleased. “Thanks. I tried. I- Nico helped.”

“Nico was over?” Percy asked, wiping egg yolk from his lower lip and sucking it from his finger.

“Yeah,” Jason said, distracted. “Sorry, I should've asked you first.”

“Nah, it's cool. Nico's family. Just wish I could've said hi. I haven't seen him in a while.”

“He seems good.”

“Hope so. He recently made manager at Rizzoli's on 54th.”

“No shit?”

Percy nodded, shoveling another forkful of fried potato into his mouth with a groan. “This,” he said through his mouthful, “is seriously amazing though, holy-  _Zeus_.”

Jason smiled. “Really?”

“Really.” Percy looked up at him with a small smile. “And you even included the blue food-coloring.”

“Well, I just kind of figured. I mean, you tend to like to eat blue food a lot. Is that a Jewish thing too?”

Percy had been about to put his fork back into his mouth, but had to stop he was laughing so hard. Instead of making Jason feel embarrassed, it made him smile. Percy's laugh had always been infectious. “No, it's- it's another Gabe thing.”

“He shoved all the normal food into the closet with your religion?”

That just made Percy laugh harder and Jason grinned watching him wipe tears from his eyes and try to speak. “Nah, he'd said something about blue food not being an actual thing so my mom started bringing home blue candy from her store every day and then started dying the actual food we ate with blue food-coloring.”

“Your mom's a hardcore rebel,” Jason said with a smile.

Percy winked at him. “You should see her pictures from the '80s.”

When they were too full to eat any more, Jason wrapped the rest of the latkes in plastic wrap while Percy put out the Chanukiah.

“You don't leave it burning?” Jason had asked.

Percy shook his head. “Not if I want to keep my apartment. As long as it's burned for 30 minutes, we're all good.”

They crawled into the blanket fort centered around the TV and settled down next to each other once Percy got the movie started up.

And, well, if Percy fell asleep against Jason's shoulder at some point during the film who was he to move him?


	3. Second Night of Chanukah

The second day of Chanukah, Percy had the day off and insisted on doing something for Jason despite Jason's feeble attempts to stop him.

“Would you relax?” Percy had said that morning, grinning at him from the kitchen as he made coffee. “I understand you're trying to make this good for me,” Jason flushed at his wording, “but it's my holiday, so I'll do what I want. And if I want to get you drunk and take all your gelt, then that's my business.”

Jason had smiled, wiping the sleepers from his eyes and folding up his blanket. “What makes you think you'll be taking all my gelt?”

“If I can wipe the floor with your ass at euchre, what makes you think you'll stand a chance at dreidel?"

“Oh, it is  _on_ , Jackson.”

“Bring it,  _Grace_.”

They spent the morning ruining their friendship by playing Mario Kart and eating doughnuts Percy picked up from Chelsea Market while Jason was still passed out on the futon.

They had woken up sometime around two in the morning to the Finding Nemo menu page playing on repeat and took the blanket fort down in order to properly sleep.

Sometime in the afternoon, they headed to Flatiron Wine and Spirits on Broadway where they bickered over wine – “You can buy the Chardonnay if you want, but I'm making brisket later so I'm getting the fucking Zinfandel” – and then met up with Nico at a Starbucks on 57th for lunch.

“So?” Nico asked once Percy had disappeared to the bathroom. “How'd it go?”

Jason wiped some sandwich crumbs from the side of his mouth. “Good.” He couldn't keep himself from smiling. “He really liked the latkes.”

“See? What did I tell you. You worry too much.”

Jason shrugged, looked down at his hands and when he opened his mouth again, the words that came out were like a confession. “In the candelight, he looked... He was... I almost-”

“Kissed him,” Nico finished for him. There was a wistful expression on his face.

Jason immediately felt like an ass. “Shit, Nico, I-”

“Would you shut up?” Nico cut him off, but there was no hostility. “I'm fine. I'm just... reminiscing I guess. I know the feeling, you know.”

“I know.”

“So did you?”

Jason frowned. “Did I what?”

“Kiss him.”

“I- no. He's... He's not into guys, Nico, remember?”

“What do you mean ' _remember_ '? Remember what?”

“Percy's straight.”

“Since  _when_?”

“Since always? That's- That's why you were so heartbroken by him, right? Because he could never love you back.”

Nico's face turned a number of colors. “That's not why I was-” He made a scoffing sound and looked around him while wiping his hands on his jeans as if someone applying the word 'heartbroken' to him were a public scandal. “I felt...  _rejected_ because I knew Percy saw me as a brother and that I wasn't his type.”

“Which are girls.”

“Which are light-eyed blonds, with an e or not, who are at or above his skill level.”

Jason snorted. “Just because he dated Annabeth for two years doesn't mean he has a  _thing_ for people with blond hair and light eyes.”

“Oh, yeah? What about Luke?”

“Who's Luke?”

“The guy who leant his body to Kronos, or Saturn in your case, as an avatar to destroy Olympus and take over the world in the second Titan war.”

Jason's eyes bugged and he shot a look from Nico to the door of the restroom. “Percy-?”

“Had a crush on the guy.” Nico took a bite of his bagel. “I don't know what he was like before Kronos, but I can recognize a crush when I see one. He'd get this look on his face whenever Annabeth brought him up, like jealousy, and to be completely honest I could never tell if he was jealous of Luke or jealous Annabeth. Probably both. I think he had a hard time coming to terms with being bi.”

 _Who hadn't?_ Jason thought. He still remembered his own surprise when Favonius had said he'd been in love with a  _dude_ , remembered the confusion over realizing that was actually  _possible_ , remembered the relief he felt when Nico came out to him because it meant there was someone else with those kinds of feelings. Granted, the only woman Nico had ever felt attracted to was Beyonce so their feelings weren't really the same, but it had still made Jason feel less alone.

“What makes you think he even likes me?” Jason asked. “And don't tell me it's because I'm a light-eyed blond because he acted the same when I dyed it brown for Halloween.”

Nico arched a brow as he took another bite of his bagel. “He stares at you when you aren't looking. Well, actually, no, it's more like  _gazing at you_  because he's practically  _doe-eyed_  when he does it, it's disgusting.”

Jason's ears burned. “That doesn't-”

“He's also making you  _brisket_.  _Brisket_ , Jason.”

“What does that-”

“Percy doesn't cook.”

“Yes, he does. He made spaghetti for us the other night.”

Nico stared at him as if he'd just strengthened his point. “He also bought wine.”

“So?”

“Percy doesn't drink wine. Percy drinks beer. Sometimes raspberitas when he feels like letting down the wall of hyper-masculinity.”

Jason frowned. “Then why did we get wine?”

“Because  _you_ like wine.”

“But if he bought it for me, why did he insist on the Zinfandel when I wanted Chardonnay?”

Nico made a face. “Because you don't drink a light wine with something like brisket. You pair it with something like Merlot.  _Chardonnay_ , Jason? Really?”

“I  _like_ Chardonnay. What-  _Gods_. Break up with Pollux, you're becoming Mr. D.”

“At least Mr. D knows not to pair  _Chardonnay_ with  _bris_ -”

“Shut  _uuup_!”

Nico smirked, licking a stripe of cream cheese from his thumb. “So what are you guys doing tonight after the whole menorah lighting thing?”

 

* * *

 

“The words are written on the sides so you don't have to worry about memorizing the symbols,” Percy said as Jason turned the small, blue dreidel between his fingers. “At the start of the game, each person starts off with the same number of coins. At each turn, we put one coin into the middle.”

Percy leaned forward and took a small piece of gelt from Jason's pile and one from his own, placing them in a small pile between them.

“When it's my turn, I spin the dreidel and perform whatever action the dreidel lands on. If it lands on  _Nun_ , then I don't take anything. If it lands on  _Gimel_ , then I take everything in the middle. If it lands on  _Hay_ , I take half of what's in the middle. And if it lands on  _Shin_ , then I put two coins into the middle.”

“ _Nun_ is nothing,  _Gimel_ is everything,  _Hay_ is half,  _Shin_ is two,” Jason repeated.

Percy nodded. “We play until one of us runs out of money. The person who wins all of the money, well... wins. Sound simple enough?”

Jason nodded and took a sip from his wine glass, feeling the familiar warmth spread through his body. Nico was right; the Zinfandel was good with the brisket. “So who goes first?”

“It doesn't really matter, but the youngest usually goes first,” Percy said. He nodded at Jason. “Which means you're up, Superman.”

Jason felt stupidly nervous, but luckily he spun the dreidel right and it didn't do that awkward fail of a spin quarters usually did for him. It landed on the letter that reminded Jason of the pi symbol. “ _Hay_.”

“That means you take one of the coins,” Percy said. “But you might as well just leave it there-”

“'Cause you have to put one in anyway,” Jason said with a nod.

Percy placed a coin into the middle and took the dreidel from Jason, giving it a spin.

“ _Shin_.” He made a face and put in two coins, sticking his tongue out when Jason smiled.

The smile vanished though when he spun and also got  _Shin_ , throwing one of his gelt pieces at Percy playfully when he grinned at him over his wine glass. “You're up,  _Aqua_ man.”

“ _Ugh_ , please, at least let me be Batman.” He passed the dreidel back to Jason when it came up  _Nun_.

“You don't have the-” Jason stopped.

He'd been about to say 'the mental problems,' but remembered that Percy actually kind of did. He and Annabeth had slept together in the same bed for months even after breaking up just because of their nightmares of Tartarus.

“-the tragic past to be Batman.”

Percy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What about Flash?”

Jason grinned. “Too slow.”

“You're an ass.”

“I didn't mean it like  _that_ , gods, I meant your running. You're about as fast as a turtle.”

“On  _land_.”

Jason rolled his eyes and spun the dreidel, letting out a 'whoop' when it came up  _Gimel_. “Who's wiping the floor with who now?”

“You just wait. I'll be  _wearing_  chocolate by the time I'm done with you.”

“That was really not an image I wanted in my head.”

“Wasn't it?” Percy asked and his smirk was way too suggestive to be clueless of Jason's feelings. He spun the dreidel, took half of the two coins in the middle before putting the same coin right back in, and handed it back to Jason.

Percy ended up winning like he said he would and as he poured Jason his second glass of wine he asked, “How about we do something different?”

“Like what?”

“How about we make the symbols stand for something else?”

Jason frowned. “Like strip dreidel?”

Percy choked on a laugh. “I was thinking more like 20 questions, you know, to amp up the conversation and not so much the competition.”

Jason thought about it. “Do I get my gelt back?”

“Yes, you get your gelt back.”

“Then I'm in.”

They kept the game the same; however, when the dreidel landed on  _Shin_ , not only did the person have to put in two coins, but they had to tell the other person a secret about themselves no one else knew.

When the dreidel landed on  _Hay_ , the person had to say something nice about the other person.

And when the dreidel landed on  _Gimel_ , the person got to ask the other person any question they wanted and the other person  _had_ to answer.

 _Nun_ stayed the same.

“This just went from child-oriented to truth or dare,” Jason said, amused.

He put a coin in the middle and took the dreidel, smirking when it landed on  _Gimel_. “Get ready, Jackson. I'm about to make you tell your darkest secrets.”

Percy made a face.

“Was that soup you made for Annabeth  _really_ homemade or was it Progresso?”

“Oh my  _gods_.”

“Answer the question, we all want to know.”

Percy laughed into his hands. “It  _was_ homemade, but it was my mom who made it.”

Jason made a playfully dramatic gasp. “You  _lied_?”

“I was trying to be romantic! How romantic is it when I give you soup when you're sick and say 'here, my mom made it'?”

They were still laughing when Percy spun on his turn. “I don't know if I can actually think of something nice to say about you.”

“Wow,” Jason laughed, clutching his heart.

Percy grinned to show he was joking. “Um. I like how you look in glasses.”

“You're just saying that because you can't come up with anything else.”

“No! I really do like how you look in them. You look... sophisticated.” His face was a little red, Jason realized. Probably from the wine.

“Alright, my turn.” Jason chewed his lip when it also landed on  _Hay_. “You're quick-thinking.”

Percy snorted. “Is that supposed to be an ADHD joke?”

“Nah, man, you are. I don't know how many times you've managed to get us out of a sticky situation. You've saved my life a lot.”

Percy picked at a hole in his sock. “Well, then... thanks.”

“No problem.”

When Percy spun he got  _Nun_  and the dreidel landed on  _Hay_ again when it was Jason's turn.

Jason thought for a moment before saying honestly, “You have a great laugh.” And that time he was sure when Percy's face turned red it wasn't because of the wine.

The rest of the night carried on like that.

“I know everyone always thinks I'm a goody-two-shoes, but one time I got fed up with Dakota's 'grace' jokes, so I pissed in his koolaid. He still doesn't know about it.”

“I like being in control of a quest, but I feel more in control when you're there.”

“What's the worst thing you've ever eaten or drank?”

“Straight gin.”

“I stole your underwear once because mine were dirty.”

“Did you ever like Reyna back?”

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes I miss being an only child.”

“Did you ever like Nico back?”

“No.”

“I can play Wonderwall on the guitar.”

“I'm always worried my mom doesn't miss me.”

“What's your favorite book?”

“I don't read.”

“I know you listen to books on tape, don't give me that.”

“Harry Potter, but tell no one.”

“I'm kind of in love with... your shirt.”

“You're in love with Five Finger Death Punch?”

“Yeah. I get off on beards.”

There was enough wine in their systems to make that hilarious and for Percy to have found nothing strange in his pause.

Or so Jason hoped.


	4. Third Night of Chanukah

Nico had been right.

Percy didn't cook.

Which was why, when Percy announced after coming home from work they'd be making sufganiyah, they ended up heading over to Percy's mom's apartment on the Upper East Side because Percy didn't have half the cooking supplies they needed.

The Chanukiah lit (Sally's was larger than Percy's) and placed a safe distance away from the window curtains so they wouldn't catch fire, they set to work in small kitchen.

“Place two and a half cups of flour, one teaspoon ground cinnamon, one half teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to aerate and combine and set aside. Coat a second large bowl with vegetable oil. Set aside.” Percy made a face. “What does aerate mean?”

Jason shrugged, coating the second bowl with vegetable oil. “It's your recipe.”

“It's Chow.com's recipe,” Percy disagreed. He mixed the ingredients together, flailing a little when he whisked too hard and some of the flour came up into his face.

Jason hid his laugh with a cough.

“Place two and one-fourth teaspoons of active yeast – so we have to go to the gym to pick up some yeast-”

“ _Gross_ , Percy!”

“- and one teaspoon of sugar in a medium bowl. Heat a half cup of apple cider until warm between 105 and 115 degrees.”

Jason squeezed past him to pour the apple cider into the small pot on the stove.

“Add to the yeast and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foaming, about 5 minutes. Why would it foam when combined with sugar?” Percy grabbed one of the smaller bowls.

“Don't question the instructions when it comes to making doughnuts,” Jason said, nudging him with his hip.

Percy snorted, mixing the sugar and yeast. “Yes, sir.”

Jason flushed and kept his attention on the apple cider.

“Add the remaining one-fourth cup sugar, remaining one-fourth cup apple cider, two large egg yolks, one tablespoon apple butter, and one teaspoon vanilla extract to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Add this mixture to the reserved flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and begins to form a ball.”

Percy set his phone down at a safe distance, pouring the apple cider, vanilla extract, and two large eggs into the yeast mixture first before adding in the apple butter and sugar.

“I'm gonna have forearms of steel after this, just watch.”

Jason turned to do just that, letting out a drawn-out snort when Percy mixed the yeast with the flour mixture. He looked like he was dying. “Careful there, Forearms of Steel. Don't give yourself a hernia.”

Percy laughed into his arm, face red from effort. “Shut up.”

Jason grinned and took Percy's phone, reading the next step. “Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Scatter the butter pieces over the dough and knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.”

“You want to clean off the island real quick and dust some flour on it?” Percy asked.

“Can do.”

It took about 30 seconds after Percy transferred the dough to the island for the puns to start.

Percy had grinned as Jason scattered the butter and as soon as Jason began squishing, Percy leaned forward and whispered way too suggestively, “I can help you with that, you know. I know you  _knead_ me.”

Jason made him knead the whole thing just for that.

“Alright, now we have to wait about two hours for it to rise,” Jason said after rolling the dough in the vegetable-oiled bowl. “Do you have plastic wrap?”

They wrapped the bowl and set it on the counter after which Percy stood over the bowl with his hands spread out wide and said in a dark voice, “Rise.”

Jason had never rolled his eyes so hard.

The next three hours went surprisingly fast.

They turned on a Christmas marathon of NCIS while they made the caramel sauce and waited for the dough to finish rising, then turned on Star Trek after cutting out the circles and waiting for  _them_ to rise. They ended up getting into a heated argument over Enterprise vs. Voyager and the Original Series vs. The Next Generation during which Jason called Percy nerdier than Nico and Percy threw flour in his face.

Luckily, it didn't escalate into throwing hot doughnut oil at each other and the sufganiyah came out just fine even  _if_ Percy intentionally squirted him with the pastry bag.

* * *

An hour later, Jason was a little scared by how content he felt.

They were sitting on the couch with their legs folded, facing each other as they ate grilled cheese and sufganiyah on paper plates in a comfortable silence.

Percy was staring down at his food with his eyes half-lidded, chewing slowly with the occasional hum as if the food were doing more for him than making him fall asleep. It made Jason's chest warm.

“I really like doing this with you,” Jason quietly admitted.

His voice brought Percy's eyes slowly up to his face. They looked greener in the dim light. “Eating?”

Jason blew air from his nose, but smiled. “Well, yeah, that too, but I meant. I mean... This. Celebrating with you. Chanukah. The holidays.”

Percy was silent for a long moment. Then, just as quietly as Jason, he said, “Me too.”

When they'd finished eating, they put out the Chanukah candles, but decided to stay the night in Sally's living room what with the both of them being too drowsy from the Chardonnay (Jason would stick his tongue out at Nico later because he was a mature adult).

Jason didn't mind. He liked looking up at the walls and seeing pictures of a younger Percy and his mom.

There was a progression, he noticed, in some of them.

Percy looked about five in one photo, a front tooth missing in his big smile as he leaned against his mom, and in another one he looked about seven or eight with his hair long enough it almost covered his eyes. Each photo looked like it'd been taken on the same beach.

“Montauk,” Percy said in a drowsy voice, answering Jason's thoughts. “My mom and I would go there every summer. Same cabin.”

“Why Montauk?” Jason asked, eyes drifting from photo to photo until they landed on the first one where Percy was wearing his Camp Half-Blood necklace, a single clay bead hanging on his neck.

“It was where they met,” Percy mumbled, eyes drifting closed against the couch.

“Who?”

“Mom and dad.”

Jason blinked slowly and realized Percy didn't mean Paul. But when he turned to ask more, Percy was fast asleep.

He turned back to the photos on the wall, idly tracing the SPQR tattoo on his arm, each line marked there, and for the first time in a while wondered about his own mom.

Had he stayed with her, would they have had their own traditions? Christmas or Chanukah? Both? Would Thalia have stayed?

A knot began to form in his throat and he forced the thoughts away, instead letting his eyes fall on Percy, asleep with his arms folded over his chest and lips parted. He made little breathey noises, face completely relaxed.

Jason wondered what it would be like to do this again next year and for a brief moment he let himself hope.


	5. Fourth Night of Chanukah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if anything's incorrect in this chapter! 
> 
> I've never participated in the Shabbat before and I know Orthodox and Reform Jews do things differently, but I don't know how differently and I don't exactly know how a typically non-religious Reform Jew would go about it, so if something catches you as "that's not right at all" please let me know how to change it!!

Percy went to work early that morning after they got back to the apartment.

“I'll be back around 2:00,” he said, shoving the dark blue polo shirt over his head while Jason tried to look anywhere else but at his skin.

It didn't work.

“Why 2:00?”

“I don't usually participate in Shabbat, but I do when it comes up during Chanukah,” Percy had said. He adjusted the name-tag on his shirt.

“What's Shabbat?” Jason asked, watching him.

“The Sabbath.”

“Oh! The day of rest thing?”

Percy nodded. “But you don't have to do it with me if you don't want to. If you're not used to it, I guess it can be a little boring, so-”

“No, I want to,” Jason said hurriedly. “Should I do anything before you get home?”

Percy shook his head. “I'll be home before sundown, so I've got everything covered. Are you going to be bothered if I don't, like, give you a traditional Jewish experience or something?”

Jason frowned. “Why would that be a problem?”

“You've seemed kind of enthusiastic about the whole Chanukah thing, I figured you were doing this for some kind of religious endeavor. Roman guilt or something.”

The hurt must've shown on Jason's face because Percy suddenly looked down at his feet. “I'm doing this because I  _enjoy_ it, Percy. Because I enjoy spending time with  _you_. I thought I made that clear last night.”

Percy pulled his jacket on silently and slipped into his boots. But just when Jason thought he was going to leave, he stopped at the door and said, very quietly, “I'm sorry.”

Jason just stared until Percy looked down at his shoes again.

“I'm just... I'm not used to people... caring.”

“A  _lot_ of people care about you.”

“Not like this, they don't.”

They were both quiet. Then Jason shifted on the couch. “Well, I do, Seaweed Brain. So get used to it.”

Percy gave a small, private smile to the floor.

And left.

* * *

The atmosphere was still tense when Percy came home later, coffee cup in hand and shoulders tight.

Jason couldn't say he expected anything else given who their fathers were.

Jupiter had literally given birth to the god of drama.

Except Jason had no idea what could have spawned the idea in Percy's head that he was doing this for any other reason than for him.

He thought about the things he'd said the night before, the things he'd done, but all he could remember was having a good time and making Percy's eyes light up with laughter.

“I ordered pizza,” Jason told him as Percy took out a different set of candles.

Percy had explained how, because fires were forbidden from being lit on Shabbat, the Chanukiah had to be lit before the Shabbat candles. They also had to use a different kind of candle because regular Chanukah candles were made to burn just for the half-hour. They needed them to last through sunset.

“I know it's not exactly a nice meal like Shabbat calls for, but I kind of figured that that way you wouldn't have to make dinner.”

Percy muttered a quiet thank you, which Jason took as a sign to try and lighten the mood a little.

“Maybe we could use the crust as a  _challah_.”

Percy didn't laugh.

“Sorry, that was a shitty thing to-”

“It's fine.”

* * *

The whole night continued like that.

Percy said the blessings over the Chanukiah and Jason lit the candles left to right with the  _shamash_.

He was a little confused when Percy lit the Shabbat candles after the pizza came instead of right before the sun went down, but he didn't say anything, simply listened to the Hebrew and watched the lights dance across Percy's face for a brief moment before following Percy's example and closing his own eyes.

More Hebrew followed in what Percy explained was called the Kiddush over a glass of wine, but from the way Percy delivered it it might as well have been the Kaddish.

“Something's up that you're not telling me,” Jason said once Percy finished. “And don't say it's because of me because we had a great time last night and I can't remember anything that would've made you say the shit you did this morning.”

Percy looked down at the pizza like the sight of it made him physically ill.

“ _Well?_ ”

“You know the phone call I had this morning?”

Jason vaguely remembered Percy talking on his cell-phone that morning, but he'd been half-asleep when it happened. “You said that was your boss.”

“I lied,” Percy said quietly. He picked at a loose string of cheese.

Jason frowned at him. “Why would you lie?”

“Because I knew if I told you who it was, you'd want me to talk about it.”

Jason snorted. “And yet here we are.”

Percy gave a small smile, but it fell away. “It was Annabeth.”

Jason's expression softened. “What'd she say?”

“She's here in New York.”

“For the Christmas party.”

“More than that. She's on a romantic vacation. Wanted to know if I wanted to come spend Chanukah with her and her boyfriend.” His expression soured. “So I wouldn't be  _alone_.”

Jason felt his heart ache. “Percy...”

“It's just so fucking... How is it that she, after everything that happened, can just get her life together so easily and carry on with things? I mean I know we broke up because of mutual shit, but it's not like she wasn't hurt by it. I know she was. We talked about it during cuddle therapy-” Jason made a noise, but Percy kept going “- so it's not like she's a heart-breaker. So how is that she's managed to pull her life back together and work out a long term relationship and I'm still living in this shitty studio apartment working a shitty 11:00 to 7:00 job and I can't even gather the balls to ask someone  _out_  because how can I date someone when my anxiety is through the roof  _all the damn_ -”

It took a minute for Percy to actually respond to the hug, but when he did it was as if everything he had built up in the past few years came out of him.

His shoulders relaxed and his body fell forward, face pressed firmly against the skin between Jason's neck and shoulder.

Jason could smell his hair, the soft spice of his cologne.

He could feel his shoulders shaking.

He pulled him closer.

“Hey,” Jason whispered. “Hey, you're okay. You're okay. You're not... Everyone moves at their own pace, Percy. And no one has their lives together, regardless of what it looks like on the outside. You're not less than they are.”

He gave Percy a protective squeeze.

“You're actually... kind of perfect. Flaws and all.”

There was a soft, wet laugh against his shoulder and then Percy's muffled voice. “You're such a dork.”

“Not as much of a dork as  _you,_ " Jason said, smiling _._ "I still say the Voyager's better.”

Percy laughed, sniffling as he pulled back and wiped his face. “Sorry I was such an ass this morning.”

“It's okay. I like your ass.”

It was out before Jason could stop himself, but luckily it just made Percy laugh more.

When he stopped, there was that soft look on his face again like there had been the first night Jason spent there, when Percy was teaching him the Chanukah blessings.

“Thank you," Percy said quietly. "For... everything.”

Jason smiled. "Any time."


	6. Fifth Night of Chanukah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm so late on this one guys! I ended up sleeping later than I wanted today and I had to go out and help my sister.
> 
> Hope you're having a great fifth night of Hanukkah!

The next day was incredibly lazy, but Jason was sure Jewish Sabbaths weren't actually like that.

“That” being spending the entire day in bed and only getting up to pee and eat cold, leftover pizza.

“You can reheat food on Shabbat, you know that right,” Percy had said in a groggy voice, making a disgusted face at him.

Jason mimicked his expression before taking a large bite. “Cold pizza is the best pizza.”

“You're a  _monster_.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Percy had told him most people played board games and told stories on Shabbat, but Jason could tell that, despite their small Chanukah celebrations, the actual work week and Annabeth's phone call had taken a lot out of Percy and so he let Percy drift in and out of sleep throughout the day.

Except, of course, when he had an idea.

“Hey.”

“No.”

Jason smiled and gave another nudge to Percy's shoulder. “You want to go out tonight?”

Percy squinted up at him from beneath the covers. “Time is it?”

“Four.”

“Shit.”

“Hey, it's okay. Day of rest. Literally.”

“It's not supposed to be  _that_ literal,” Percy groaned, arching his back as he stretched.

Jason averted his eyes. “We're allowed to go places after sundown though, right? After the Chanukiah is lit?”

“Yeah.”

“So... out?”

“Where?”

Jason grinned. “I'll let you know when we get there.”

* * *

“Has anyone ever told you you're cute?” Percy asked, hands buried deep in his pockets. “Because you're cute.”

Jason felt his cheeks flare up, but he knew despite what Nico said that Percy was just being friendly. “Piper has mentioned it a few times.”

They stepped forward in line and Jason pulled his hat down further over his ears.

He had known that cheese, like oil, was another Chanukah thing – Judith had given the Greek king Holofernes salty cheeses and then given him wine to make him drunk in order to cut off his head – but he also knew that cheese, for Percy, was a comfort food he happened to love.

Which was why, well... Milk Truck.

It turned out to be a great idea, too.

As they came closer to the ordering window, they could see the chalkboard on the side of the truck.

“Proceeds from today will go to the ps234 annual appeal fund,” Percy read and even though Jason had no idea what that meant, it made Percy's face  _glow_.

 _Has anyone ever told you_ you're  _cute?_ Jason thought. “What's the ps234?” he asked.

“P.S.234 Independence School,” Percy explained. They moved forward. “It's a kindergarten on Greenwich Street. The annual appeal fund pays for music teachers and the arts and stuff and after school things.”

“Oh, that's cool.”

“Yeah, it is. I went there for a month when I was little. It was one of the better schools I've been to.”

Jason frowned. “Why only a month?”

They came to the window and Percy gave him another one of those private smiles. “You know why.”

“What can I get you guys?”

Percy perked up. “Could I have your mac and cheese and a vanilla bean milkshake, please?”

The guy at the window gave a sharp nod and turned to Jason.

“Uh, could I have,” he leaned over to see the menu again, “the three-cheese grilled cheese with a dark chocolate milkshake, please?”

“Mac N Cheese, Three-Cheese, Two milkshakes – one vanilla, one dark,” the guy repeated back and Percy gave a nod. “That'll be $25.22.”

“No, I got it,” Jason said when Percy reached for his wallet. “It was my idea to come out.”

“But it was me who made you celebrate Shabbat.”

“You didn't make me do anything.”

“Would you just let me do something nice?”

“No.” Jason handed the guy $30 and told him to keep the change, grinning when Percy scowled at him. “Consider it a Chanukah gift.”

“You're an asshole.”

“Yeah, but you love me.”

They were quiet after that, Percy only occasionally muttering something about the cold.

When their food arrived, it was handed to them in a brown paper bag and a cardboard drink holder. “Happy Holidays," the guy told them and then swiftly averted his eyes to the people behind them. "Next?"

“You want to go find a bench in Hudson Square somewhere?” Percy asked as they moved away from the truck.

Jason shook his head. “I have another idea. How thick is your jacket?”

Percy squinted. “Why?”

* * *

“Food that's terrible for my health on a park bench in front of the polluted Hudson River.” Percy turned to him, smirk on his face. “Is this a date?”

Jason choked on his milkshake, but quickly swallowed what was in his mouth so he could suffocate discretely. “Why would it be a date?”

Percy shrugged, running a plastic fork through his food. “'Cause this is kind of how I've always wanted to spend one.”

“Really?”

“I always thought of it as going to a McDonalds and then going for a walk on the pier, but McDonalds is too trashy for a date.”

A couple and their dog walked by them and Percy made an excited sound when it sniffed at his jeans.

“So I succeeded in with the food truck idea,” Jason said, smiling. “Not too trashy?”

“Are you kidding? More like perfect. And this mac and cheese is insane. Here.”

“Oh, it's fine, I don't-”

“Are you allergic to anything?”

“Pine nuts.”

“Then open your mouth.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. And was suddenly really glad he did. “Oh my  _gods_.”

“Right?”

“What's  _in_ that?”

“Cheddar, asiago, and something else I can't remember. There's mozzerella and bread crumbs on top though.”

“Want a bite of mine?”

“Nah, I'm good.”

Jason made a noise. “I can have a bite of yours, but you can't have a bite of mine?”

“I'm all for peaches on brownies, but not apples on grilled cheese.”

“It's  _good!_ ”

“I'm sure, I just don't want any.”

“Come on.”

“Nope.”

“Just-”

“ _Jason!_ ”

“Just open your mouth!”

Percy laughed and swatted at him, practically falling off the bench. “No!”

“What about if I give you some without the apples?”

Percy looked up at him suspiciously. “Maybe.”

Jason helped him sit up again and pealed off a cheesy piece, offering it to him like a sacrifice. “Well?” he asked while Percy chewed.

“It's good.”

“What did I tell you?”

“Not as good as my mac and cheese though.”

“Yeah, sure. At least my milkshake is better than yours.”

“Pff! Dark chocolate? Gross.”

“What do you mean  _gross_? Dark chocolate is  _amazing_.”

“Coming from the guy who eats  _cold pizza_.”

“Cold pizza is good!”

“Says  _Satan_.”

Jason let out a loud laugh and gave Percy a playful shove. “Now who's the asshole?”

“You are. You tried to squish your icky sandwich into my mouth when I said 'no.' That is food assault. Not apepper, but assault.”

Jason gave a long groan while Percy laughed. “Did you actually just use the word 'icky' too? What are you, four?”

“And a half,” Percy said brightly.

“Yeah, you're something.”

“Thanks for the food.”

“Even though I apeppered you with a grilled cheese?”

Percy laughed around his fork. “Even then.”

They watched the people go by.

Some were burdened with shopping bags, others talking quickly on cell-phones. There wasn't any snow (there rarely was in New York City), but the weather was still bitterly cold if you weren't dressed for it.

“Sorry.”

Jason pulled his eyes away from a woman and her fluffy dog. “For what?”

“For last night,” Percy said around his fork. There was a string of mozzerella clinging to the side of his mouth, but he didn't seem to notice. “And for sleeping all day this morning.”

“Don't be. Shit, never be sorry for your feelings. If anything, I'm sorry you felt like you had to keep it bottled all day.”

Percy gave him a weary smile.

Jason nudged his shoulder. “You're my bro, you know that? You can tell me anything.”

And maybe it was Jason's imagination, but Percy's smile seemed to waver a little. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.” He looked out at the water. “I know.”


	7. Sixth Night of Chanukah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm so late on this and the next chapter, guys!
> 
> My mom recently came down with the flu so I've been helping her work the night shift, which means I've been crashing during the day instead of writing.
> 
> I hope you guys had an amazing sixth and seventh day of Hanukkah!!

On the sixth night of Chanukah, Jason found himself standing in Percy's kitchenette making Nico's face scrunch by shoveling the lasagna he'd brought onto paper plates into unattractive piles.

“Don't you think you're being a little childish?” Nico whispered.

Percy and Pollux were on the folded-up futon not six feet away, flipping through channels on the TV.

“I asked him if it was fine to have the party on the 23rd instead of the 24th and he said it was okay.”

“But it's _not_ okay,” Jason hissed back. He let the lasagna hit the next plate with a wet _slap_. Nico flinched. “Why do we need to get together before Christmas anyway? What's going to change between 23 rd and the 25th that we'll need to catch up on? You think someone's going to get pregnant or lose a leg in two days?”

“It's _tradition_ that we have a get together before Christmas,” Nico said, lowering his voice so it was more of an angry growl – a warning to Jason to lower his. “Don't snap at _me_ because _you've_ been in California for the last _four Christmases_ doing Hades' knows what-”

“I was _working_.”

“-so _you_ don't understand the traditions we've established here. Percy knows them. Percy goes to them. Stop acting like you're a Jew who's been personally offended because news flash, Grace, _you're not_ and it's not _your_ place to be angry. It's Percy's. And Percy isn't angry.”

Jason felt his nostrils flare, but he cast his eyes to the couch to locate the green hoodie anyway; Percy's shoulders were relaxed, eyes bright, and the sides of his mouth were turned up in a pleasant smile at something Pollux had said.

Jason hated when Nico was right.

“I hate when you're right.”

“No, you're just upset because Percy agreed to go, which means one less night of you and him together.”

Jason scowled. “That's not-”

“It's true and you know it.”

Nico stood up from the chair and took two of the paper plates, giving Jason a look. “I've done my fair share of pining, you know. So either make the move you've been planning on making since you got here or stop complaining.”

Jason took the other two plates more forcefully than needed. “You're really mean for someone who's done their fair share of pining.”

“I'd be nicer, but you fucked up my lasagna.”

“Oh, boo hoo, like you didn't pick it up somewhere anyway. The entire world knows you can't cook.”

“That better be playful banter coming out of your mouth because, on the River Styx, I will _strike you out_.”

Jason's expression softened and at his apology so did Nico's.

They ate in the glow of Chanukiah, then followed up with ice cream while watching Elf on TV.

Jason had felt another pang of anger when Pollux had turned on the Christmas movie, but Percy seemed unphased and so he said nothing. Besides, he didn't want to get into another argument with Nico that night.

He _knew_ it wasn't his place to feel angry; he wasn't Jewish. But he was beginning to understand what Percy had meant when he said Jews didn't like being pushed to the side. Chanukah might be a minor holiday, but it _was_ Chanukah, not Christmas, and yet no Chanukah decorations were up down the street. No Chanukah specials were on TV. No Chanukah songs were being sung over the intercoms in stores. No one had wished Jason a Happy Chanukah. But they had wished him a Merry Christmas.

Jason never thought he'd see red while looking at Will Ferrell's face.

_They were wishing people Merry Christmas on Chanukah._

“Can I have your ice cream since you're implementing cruel and unusual punishment on your spoon?”

Jason blinked, pulled back to the present by Percy's voice, and suddenly realized he'd been in the process of bending his spoon in half. “Yeah, I- Sorry.”

Percy gingerly took the bowl and then nudged him with his shoulder. “You okay?”

Jason looked up at him, stared at him.

Percy's face had changed a little in the past five years. His cheeks were fuller, his jaw more defined. But his dark olive skin was the same. His soft green eyes were the same.

_It's not your place to be angry. It's Percy's. And Percy isn't angry._

He peeled his eyes away and tried to fix the spoon. “I'm fine.”


	8. Seventh Night of Chanukah

“Put your jacket on, we're going out.”

Jason looked up from where he was setting up the dreidel game on the kitchen counter. “What?”

Percy leveled him with a stare as he pulled his coat over a dark blue sweater. “You were mopey this morning when I left for work and you were mopey when I was giving the Chanukah blessings." He tugged the zipper up. "You've never been mopey when I've given the Chanukah blessings. You always have this dumb look on your face like Hebrew is the most magical thing you've ever heard before.” Jason felt his ears go red. “And so I'm going to un-mope you. I'm going to mop up your mope.”

Jason closed his eyes. Smiled. Opened them. “And how are you going to do that?”

“Well, obviously last night something was wrong with the ice cream, so tonight I'm taking you to get some  _real_ ice cream.”

Jason's smile widened. “Yeah?”

Percy grinned back. “Yeah. So put on your jacket, loser, we're going gelating.”

* * *

“You want to tell me what's on your mind?”

They had gone down Chelsea Market to a place called L'Arte del Gelato, a small gelato shop in a brick building with a green door. It had been cute – with pink menu boards and matching wall art. Jason had felt like he'd entered an Italian doll house.

Now, though, they were making their way back to Percy's apartment, walking slowly and moving their plastic spoons through mint chocolate and peanut butter gelato.

It was probably dumb to be eating ice cream in 36 degree weather with a light rain coming down on their heads, but with Percy, Jason didn't seem to mind.

He spun his spoon slowly through the ice cream before heaving a sigh.

“How... Do you ever...”

He screwed up his face, but relaxed at Percy's patient look.

They rounded a corner.

“How do you deal with it?” Jason finally asked. “Being unrepresented? During the holiday season and throughout the year? I mean, I know Chanukah's a minor holiday, but I never see Rosh Hashanah decorations everywhere and if it's not labeled on my professor's calendar in her office, I wouldn't even know. So how...? How do you...?” He let the question hang in the air between them.

Percy was silent for a little while.

They crossed two streets.

Headed South.

Turned another corner.

Finally, Percy just shrugged.

“It's not really... I mean, I think I'd be more bothered by it if I were religious or if my mom were Orthodox, but... We're not very loud people. We're very quiet about our traditions, very family oriented. Being out, loud, and proud isn't exactly... Jewish, I guess. Maybe. I...” He flushed a little. “I think you're asking the wrong person. I can't speak for the whole Jewish community, especially when I only do Shabbat once a year-”

“I'm sorry, that's not what I was trying to make you do,” Jason said hurriedly. “I guess I just got angry at everyone for moving the Christmas party to the 23rd just because Piper's dad wants to do something with her and Calypso on the 24th. I mean, just because someone has something else planned for that day doesn't mean you change Christmas Cocktails to a date that mows down someone else's religious holiday. It's fucking rude.”

When Percy didn't reply, Jason looked up to find him smiling at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Percy said, shaking his head. “It's just... Sometimes you remind me of my mom. It's kind of funny.”

“But you're not upset by it? The changed date?”

Percy shrugged. “Some people don't celebrate all of Chanukah anyway what with the work week or being unable to see family. The fact that we celebrated  _seven_  days is kind of remarkable.”

“That's not answering my question.”

“I'm fine.”

They walked along in silence before Jason nudged Percy with his hip. “Am I waiting at the apartment until you get out of work so we can go to party together?”

“No, it's okay, you don't have to do that.”

“But I-”

“I get out of work at seven, so I'll be, what, an hour and a half late? I don't want you to miss out on fun. I'll get there when I get there.”

Jason frowned. “Are you sure? Because I really-”

“I'm sure.” Percy gave him a smile around his spoon. “Besides, I know that however mad you think you are at Piper and Calypso that you've missed them. You've had me for the past week. Go spend some more time with the rest of your friends. I know Frank and Hazel are dying to see you.”

“But I'll see you there, right? When you get out of work?”

“Of course you will. Where else would I go?”

Jason frowned to himself as they came up around the back side of Percy's apartment building.

It looked even more shabby in the dark with the rain, the fire escapes hanging along the brickwork like dead tree limbs ready to snap the minute someone actually tried to climb down to safety.

And yet there, three stories up and four windows to the left, Jason could just make out the unlit, silver Chanukiah and suddenly he wanted nothing else than to be snuggled up in a blanket there on Percy's futon, the rest of the world be damned.

 _Yeah_ , he thought,  _where else would I go?_


	9. Eighth Night of Chanukah

Nico and Pollux's apartment wasn't much bigger than Percy's; the layout was even similar, although the bedroom had its own room.

Jason felt a little sick just standing in it without being able to smell Percy's cologne.

Which, granted, made him feel extremely pathetic.

There wasn't enough rum in his eggnog to make pining for the apartment of person he was crushing on even  _remotely_  romantic.

And besides, Percy had said he'd be there around 7:30 anyway. He could last two hours.

Except every second he watched the sun go down, he couldn't help but feel like he was cheating on a holiday that wasn't even his.

But Percy was fine with it, right? That's what he'd said.

And Percy had been right. Jason was pissed at the change of date in the party, but he had missed his friends.

Hazel and Frank had been the only couple among them to stay together romantically, which Jason had found surprising. Hazel was only 13 when they'd started dating, so he never thought they'd still be together five years down the road. And yet they were as comfortable with each other as ever.

Hazel had cut her hair short so her wiry curls were perched on her head like a copper halo; it suited her really well.

“It helps when you're working in the Arts Center late,” she told him with a smile. “Not all that weight on your head.”

Pollux agreed with her from the kitchen where he was grabbing Leo a beer. “I tried going shoulder-length once. Worst mistake of my life.”

Hazel lifted her wine cooler when he walked by them, clinking her glass to his. “Curls.”

“Curls.”

It was a little surreal.

Everyone talked among each other as if nothing had changed.

And for them, Jason guessed, it was true.

This was just another one of their Christmas traditions.

But Jason had only been able to come up a few times in the past few years, had missed four Christmases according to Nico, and so, while it shouldn't have been surprising, it was still like he was in the Twilight Zone.

To them, Pollux was Nico's boyfriend of seven months, not an intimidating stranger.

To them, seeing Annabeth with a guy that wasn't Percy wasn't bizarre.

To them, seeing Frank with dog tags and scarred hands wasn't worrying.

Jason had thought during the four days he'd spent with Piper, Calypso, and Leo that everything had stayed the same. He was starting to realize just how dumb that assumption might have been.

“You okay?”

Jason peeled his eyes away from Annabeth and her boyfriend – Chris? Clark? – under the mistletoe and found Hazel's eyes. “What?”

“You're kind of out of it.”

“Oh, sorry.”

She nudged him with her shoulder. “You want to talk about what's got you in a tizzy?”

Jason debated telling her the truth. He licked his lips. “Did you know Percy's Jewish?”

“Yeah. You didn't?”

“I've been celebrating Chanukah with him this past week. Tonight's supposed to be the last night that we light the Chanukiah.”

Hazel's eyebrows pinched a little. “The what?”

“The menorah.”

“Ah. And you're feeling guilty being here?”

“I... Kind of? He said he didn't have a problem with it.”

“But you think he does.”

Jason stared down into his glass. “Yeah.”

“Well, why don't you go back to his place and celebrate with him? We'll be here if you guys want to come after.”

“He said he didn't want me to do that. He wanted me to have fun.”

“Well, it doesn't look like you're having fun.” She gave him a soft smile. “You keep looking at Pollux's Christmas decorations like they're making your eyes bleed.”

“Half of them aren't even Christmas decorations. Is that skull supposed to be Santa's?”

“It was Nico's idea, you goober.” Hazel shoved him playfully. Then, in a softer voice, she said, “Nico told me you might be feeling something different than friendship. For Percy.”

Jason felt his face go red. “Are you okay with that?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I'm okay with it. The real question is: are  _you_ okay with it?”

Jason ran his thumb across the bottom half of his glass, smearing the condensation there. “I care about him,” he said quietly. “A lot. And I kind of really want to kiss his dumb face.”

Hazel smiled. “Then how about you go kiss his dumb face and meet us back here later?”

Jason looked up at her. “But what if-?”

“There's only one way to find out.” She gave him another little shove. “Seriously, though. Go get him. Don't worry about saying bye to anyone, I've got you covered.”

“You're a goddess, Hazel Levesque.”

“I'm an art student with no money. Now go kiss your boyfriend and tell him you love him.”

Jason smiled and set his eggnog on the coffee table, but stopped as he rounded the couch when Hazel called his name. “Yeah?”

“Happy Chanukah.”

Jason beamed. “Happy Chanukah.”

* * *

Coming back to the apartment was a mistake.

Not because Jason regretted coming clean about his feelings, but because by the time Jason got back, Percy still didn't get out of work for another forty minutes.

Which meant he had forty minutes to himself to over-think things and panic.

He turned on the TV for background noise, practicing awkward sentences to himself that sounded more like terrible, half-assed lines from a soap-opera than an actual love confession.

Even calling it a love confession made Jason sink into the couch and press the heels of his hands into his eyes.

The TV wasn't helping, so he shut it off, got up and moved around the apartment with no final destination in mind.

He washed three forks, looked at the clock, ran his fingers through his hair, moved around the living room, took out the Chanukah candles from the small wooden drawer beside the TV and set them on the stand.

Would Percy be mad that he was there?

Would he think Jason had disregarded his feelings?

Would he think Jason was an asshole for being angry on his behalf?

Would he think he was being patronizing?

He checked his watch. Percy had gotten out of work five minutes ago. Which meant he'd be home in a few minutes.

Jason wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants, swallowed spit more times than necessary, and raked his nails across his arms.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe.

He took up the Chanukah candles, placed them in the Chanukiah from right to left – first day to last day.

Maybe the whole thing was stupid.

Maybe he could make up some story about having left his glasses at the apartment because his contacts were hurting his eyes.

Maybe he never had to confess at all.

He could just go back to California to finish his degree, ask out the cute girl in his Honors English class and hope it went somewhere, try to build a life in San Diego and pretend nothing in New York had ever happened.

Jason stared at the Chanukiah, feeling hopeless.

He checked his watch.

Percy should have been home ten minutes ago.

What if he didn't even stop home and just went to the party in his work clothes?

Jason felt like a dumbass.

It was probably what Percy did, which meant he was going to arrive at Nico's apartment without Jason there and he'd be exasperated when Hazel told him he'd gone home because Jason was stupid and didn't do what Percy had said and hadn't believed him when he said he wasn't angry.

He should have just listened.

Jason lit a match with a feeling of resignation and lifted it to the  _shamash._

He might as well.

When it was lit, he picked it up and held it, singing softly to himself and recalling Percy's words the last seven nights.

“ _Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam_   _asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu_   _l'had'lik neir shel Chanukah._ ”

He licked his lips.

“ _Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam_   _she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh._ ”

He took the  _shamash_ and lit the eighth candle, then moved right to the seventh, the sixth, the fifth, the fourth, third, second, and finally the first before placing the  _shamash_ back in its rightful place in the middle above the others.

Jason watched the lights dance and flicker for a few minutes before casting his eyes down to the floor.

He'd text Percy and let him know he'd be at the party soon, would make up some kind of excuse for why he wasn't there.

But he hadn't heard the key latch.

He hadn't heard the door open.

He hadn't seen Percy standing in the door frame.

But he did then.

Hades, did he then.

Percy was staring at him, hand still on the doorknob, his eyes frozen, but slowly moving from the Chanukiah to Jason and back again.

And then he moved forward, shut the door behind him.

Slowly.

Hesitantly.

Timidly.

“You lit the Chanukiah.”

“Yeah,” Jason said hoarsely, watching him.

“You-” Percy swallowed. “You knew the blessings?”

“I can remember them. I've been listening to you.”

“You can remember them.”

“Yeah.  _Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'ol—_ mm!”

There were lips.

On his lips.

Percy's lips were on his lips.

Percy was kissing him.

Jason didn't know what to do with his hands.

He flexed them at his sides, too tense, too scared, brought them up tentatively to Percy's shoulders, to his neck, to his hair, confused, confused, confused, until Percy pulled back and they looked at each other.

And then came together again.

Softer, gentler.

Jason's hands found Percy's cheeks and held them in his palms while Percy held him entirely, firm hands against his back.

There were no fireworks, only a feeling a right, right, right.

Only a sensation of dancing candle flames in Jason's chest.

“You're late,” Jason murmured when they pulled apart.

“Was getting wine for the party,” Percy said.

Their foreheads were flush together and Jason was vaguely aware both of them were grinning.

“You're not at the party,” Percy pointed out.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Wanted you. Wanted this. This with you.”

“Did I kiss the sense out of you or something?”

“Shut up, Jackson.”

Percy grinned wider. “You'll have to make me.”

And he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys had an amazing Hanukkah and if you don't celebrate Hanukkah, then I hope you have a Happy Holiday!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! I sincerely enjoyed writing this! C:


	10. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a teeny tiny sequel, guys! Happy Hanukkah!

“Percy.”

“No.”

He could practically hear the grin in Jason’s voice. “You have to get up. We gotta get ready to go to your mom’s.”

Percy squinted through the blankets until he found the scarred lip and then followed it up to Jason’s eyes. “Time is it?”

“10:14.”

“Gross, Jason,” Percy grumped, closing his eyes again and wrapping himself tighter in his comforter. “Chanukah doesn’t start until sundown. I’m not getting up for shit.”

“Sunset starts at 4:28,” Jason said, pulling the comforter back to Percy’s chorus of curses. “Come on. Don’t you want to have more time to spend with your mom?”

“That’s what  _after_  sundown’s for,” Percy whined. He released his kraken-hold on the comforter, giving Jason a contemptuous look. “Why do you have to be a morning person? I hate you.”

Jason just smiled and leaned down for a kiss, which Percy happily accepted. “I have to be a morning person,” Jason said against Percy’s lips before kissing him again. Percy always loved it when he did that. “Because someone has to make the coffee before you turn into your father.”

Percy grinned, dragging his fingers up into Jason’s hair and tugging him back down when Jason tried to back up off of him. “No daddy kink for you?”

Jason winced, but let himself be pulled back down, draping his body over Percy’s. _He’s already showered_ , Percy realized. He ran his hand over Jason’s cheek.  _And shaved_.

“You’re already ready,” he pouted. “No fair.”

Jason laughed. “Why ‘no fair’?”

“Because now I can’t fuck you.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “And why’s that?”

“Because you smell clean and I smell gross.”

“You smell fine.”

“My breath doesn’t.”

“Does so.”

Percy exhaled into his face.

Jason scrunched his nose. “Okay, maybe not.”

Percy laughed, then leaned back and stretched, watching Jason roll off of the futon. “So,” he said once he relaxed. “Game plan?”

“Game plan is you get up and get ready while I get dressed. Then we’ll head over to the liquor store and get some wine. Should we pick up any food?”

“We can pick up the kugel,” Percy said, sitting up. “Mom always makes the challah. Paul’s making latkes.”

“2nd Ave Deli has good kugel.”

“That’s in Midtown, though. And I don’t have that much money. Hoagie’s Heroes is closer.”

“Okay.”

Percy stood up and stretched again, groaning as he walked to the kitchen. “My body sounds like a bag of popcorn.”

Jason laughed, handing him a cup of coffee, which Percy accepted with a thank you. As he took a grateful sip, his eyes tiredly wandered up to a pair of blue and white streamers swinging across the ceiling that hadn’t been there before. He frowned and swallowed, following them with his eyes until he noticed another pair twisting in the other direction. Tiny dreidels were attached to them.

Percy gave Jason a side-ways glance, amused. “Did you decorate while I was sleeping?”

Jason took a sip of his own coffee, but Percy could tell he was smiling around the mug. “Maybe.”

“You’re cute.”

Jason was definitely smiling now. “Thanks.” He met Percy’s eyes and Percy felt the overwhelming urge to kiss him. He looked incredibly comfortable: relaxed in a clean pair of sweats with that sweet look on his face. He was like a walking sugar cookie. Percy wanted to eat him. “You know, this is our second Chanukah together.”

“Mhm,” Percy agreed. He remembered their first one. Jason had come to stay with him because Camp Half-Blood had felt too overwhelming and, in the wake of realizing Percy didn’t really plan on celebrating the holiday, Jason took it into his own hands to make sure Percy had a great eight days. Chanukah had ended that year with the two of them kissing and admitting some serious feelings they had for each other.

Now, this was their first Chanukah as actual boyfriends. It felt strange to be in the same place they had been the year before, but with Jason standing in his intimate space drinking coffee rather than being self-conscious and scared of possible rejection. It was strange, but good. So good, Percy stepped forward and turned, surprising Jason by pressing into him face-to-face.

“Hi, there,” Jason said, amused.

“Mm,” Percy said, gently plucking the coffee mug from Jason’s hands and placing both mugs on the counter. He pressed his forehead to Jason’s, feeling honored to be able to do it. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Jason smiled softly, his eyes doing their cute crinkly-thing behind his glasses. “I’m really glad to be here.”

“Thank you for everything. For coming with me to counseling, for always making the coffee, for doing that thing you do with your toothbrush.” Jason laughed. Percy smiled. “Just… thank you for being with me. I love you a lot.”

“I love you too,” Jason said, his eyes all melt-y. Percy loved when they did that.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Percy said, kissing him gently. “Because I really want to fuck you before we go to my mom’s.”

Jason laughed loudly, smacking his shoulder. He reached over and picked up his coffee mug again. “Yeah, okay.”

Percy gave him a loud kiss on the cheek. “Right on the kitchen counter.”

“You think so.”

“Futon?”

“Better. Go shower.”

Percy smiled and headed to the tiny bathroom at the end of the even tinier hallway, shucking his clothes off as he went. His stomach growled at the thought of his mom’s challah and his chest warmed at the thought of his new baby brother seeing the Chanukiah lights for the first time. But even better was his thought of Jason, sitting by the Chanukiah singing the blessings, his eyes all lit up and his face flushed with joy. He imagined Jason turning to look at him, smile forming, and the look of confusion as Percy got down on his knee. He was so excited he might burst.

But he had seven more nights to wait until he popped the question because before he did, he was going to make this Jason’s best Chanukah ever.


End file.
